Syria, the West and Pakistan | Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan

The Syrians and their country have been the victims of brutal aggression by Western countries, especially France, Israel, the US and the UK. It is reported that Hillary Clinton wrote an email stating that destroying Syria would be most beneficial for Israel as there then wouldn’t be any country to threaten it.

At the moment, the Saylani Welfare International Trust – through its president, Maulana Muhammad Bashir Qadri, and his colleagues – are providing help (food, medicines, clothing, etc) to the victims of this aggression in Syria.

It almost seems like the Almighty is annoyed with us. Muslims, regardless of where they are in the world, find themselves in trouble. For the Syrians, the trouble started during the First World War when the Sharif of Makkah joined hands with the Western countries in an effort to destroy the Turks in the Arab world. They even allowed themselves to be led by a Colonel Lawrence of the British Army. They attacked and killed many Turks in Makkah, Madina and the Arab countries. In the end, they had to suffer the consequences of this when Britain and France conspired to create Israel in Palestine. Iraq was given to Amir Faisal when he was forcefully evicted from Syria. Besides Israel, Lebanon was also created. When the Syrians opposed this, the French, with help from Senegalese soldiers, crushed them brutally. All this was possible only due to internal intrigues, wars and friendships with the West.

Syria is a beautiful country, with lush greenery, lovely fruits, good crops and excellent cuisine. Its people are friendly and, just like the Turks, look more European than Asian. We have been to Syria on an official visit at the invitation of HE Saleha Sanker, the minister of higher education. Dr Afzal Akbar Khan, our ambassador in Syria, accompanied us throughout the visit. He is a competent diplomat and speaks Arabic fluently. Before this posting, he had been the ambassador to Bahrain. While in Syria, we attended a conference and visited the Institute of Higher Technology at the University of Damascus.

The tombs of Hazrat Nuruddin Zangi, Salahuddin Ayubi, Hazrat Zainab (RA), Masjid Bani Umayya and Hazrat Khalid Bin Walid are all in Syria. It was in Homs that Hazrat Khalid Bin Walid defeated the strong Roman Army of more than 125,000 soldiers with only between 25,000 and 30,000 soldiers of his own. After winning the war, he was removed by Hazrat Umar (RA). He is buried in Homs. He was given the title of Saifullah (the sword of the Almighty) for his bravery and gallantry. Next to his tomb is a square beam with an Arabic inscription which reads: “How unlucky I am that my body is covered with the marks of lances, swords and arrows, but I could not earn a martyr’s death”. The Syrian professor accompanying us explained that since he was the Sword of Allah, how could he be defeated or killed by anyone.

Syria has one of the oldest civilisations and is almost 800,000 years old. Archaeologists determined this from the many artefacts found there. This area was under the Romans for a very long time. All the Arab countries were under the Romans. Around 539 BC, the Iranians occupied Syria, which lasted until Alexander the Great conquered the area. This occupation ended between 635 CE to 640 CE when the Arabs, under Khalid Bin Walid (RA), conquered them at Homs.

A similar victory was achieved in 1192 by Sultan Shahabuddin Ghori at Tarain near Delhi, where he defeated the combined, 130,000-strong forces of many Hindu rulers with only about 12,000 troops. More than 100 rajas and maharajas, including Prithviraj Chauhan, were killed in this war. The first Muslim ruler with an Islamic state was then established under Qutubbuddin Aibak.

In the middle of the seventh century the Banu Ummaya transferred the capital of their Islamic government from Madina to Damascus. At that time, Muslims ruled vast areas from Spain to Central Asia. Especially Abdul Malik and Al-Walid were responsible for the construction of splendid palaces, parks and roads. In the eighth century, the Abbasids defeated the Banu Ummaya, wiping out the whole dynasty. They moved the capital from Damascus to Baghdad, which became the centre of a dynasty of grandeur under the famous Caliph Haroon Rashid and his son. This grand dynasty was crushed and brutally destroyed by the Mongols under Halaku Khan, Baghdad was set on fire and the Caliph was murdered.

In 1916, French diplomat Francois Georges-Picot and the British diplomat Mark Sykes signed a secret pact and in 1918 the British Army raided Damascus and Aleppo – the two most beautiful cities of Syria. Amir Faisal, the son of the Sharif of Makkah, ruled Syria for a short while. But he was soon removed by the French and their Arab stooges. They occupied Syria and Faisal was given Iraq. That year, the French occupied Syria and Lebanon and the British occupied Palestine and Jordan, under the San Remo Conference to accomplish their nefarious plan to create Israel.

As stated earlier, the president of the Saylani International Welfare Trust is currently in Syria with a few of his colleagues. They are helping the victims of this beleaguered city by providing much-needed food, clothing and medicine on a large scale. His trip was pre-arranged by his competent assistant Zubair Ashrafi, who had gone to Turkey and Syria beforehand to assess the situation and make the necessary arrangements.

The Saylani Welfare International Trust is an excellent organisation. They serve food to almost 100,000 people in Karachi every day and distribute meat to poor families at least once a week. They also arrange the marriage ceremonies of couples who cannot bear the costs of such events on their own and provide them a reasonable amount of household items to begin with. They run vocational training centres and train thousands of people to enable them to become self-sufficient. They provide scholarships to students and free medical treatment to poor patients. The trust is non-political and non-sectarian and thousands of people in Karachi benefit from their services. May Almighty Allah shower his blessings on all the staff members of this noble organisation.

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